Chalcogenide - mold interactions during Precision Glass Molding (PGM) of GeAsSe glasses

Five chalcogenide glasses in the GeAsSe ternary glass system were melted, fabricated into flats, and molded between planar, uncoated, binderless WC molds using a laboratory-scale precision glass molding machine. The five glasses originate at the binary arsenic triselenide (As 40 Se 60 ) and are modified by replacing As with Se in 5 mol% increments, or by locking the As:Se ratio and adding Ge, also in 5 mol% increments. The glasses are separated into two groups, one for the Ge-free compositions and the other for the Ge-containing compositions. This effort analyzes the differences between the Ge-containing and the Ge-free glasses on the post-molded glass and mold surface behavior, as well as the mold lifetime. Fabrication features, such as scratch and/or dig marks were present on the glass and mold surfaces prior to the PGM process. White light interferometry analysis of the surfaces shows an overall reduction in the RMS roughness of the glass after molding, and an increase of the roughness of the molds, after 15 molding cycles. After molding, the quantity of observable defects, primarily deposits and dig marks are increased for both the glass and mold surfaces. Deposits found on the WC molds and glasses were analyzed using Electron Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) and showed no evidence of being due to material transfer between the WC molds and the glass constituents. In general the main observable difference in the analysis of the two post molded sets, despite the changes in chemistry, is the quantity of molding induced defects near the edge of the GeAsSe samples.